you're watching bbc news at 9 with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines: police investigating the murder of the journalist lyra mckee in londonderry arrest four men. the entire hs2 rail line will be given the go—ahead by the government — an announcement is expected at lunchtime. a transport overhaul — the government is pledging £5 billion to buses and cycle links across england. there is all sorts of investment we need in transport infrastructure in particular across the country. i mean, i have long said i don't think successive governments have invested enough. and coming up at 9.15 — we'll be speaking to the green party co—leader at westminster. as the coronavirus

death toll hits 1,000 — the world health organization will begin a two day meeting to speed up research. a deportation flight to jamaica has left the uk despite a last—minute legal challenge, but with fewer people on board than planned. the row between finn russell and gregor townsend continues. russell hasn't played any part in scotland's six nations campaign after it's claimed he breached team protocol during a drinking session at the team hotel. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at 9. we begin this hour with breaking news that police in northern ireland investigating the murder of journalist lyra mckee say they

have arrested four men. they were arrested under the terrorism act. the four men aged 20, 27, 29 and 52 were arrested in derry this morning. this follows the new ira claim of responsibility for majoring lire mickey, —— majoring lyra mckee, who was shot dead in the creggan area of the city when reporting on rioting. the superintendent involved has renewed his appeal to bring lyra's killers to justice. renewed his appeal to bring lyra's killers tojustice. in renewed his appeal to bring lyra's killers to justice. in a statement he said, i understand that people might be frightened to talk to as. i have previously given my personal assurance relating to anonymity for

the purpose of this investigation and renew this assurance today as we approach the anniversary of lyra's murder, so police in northern ireland arresting four men in connection with the murder of lyra mckee. in the next few hours the prime minister will announce that the whole of the the h52 high speed rail project will get the go—ahead. the project aims to boost rail capacity and reduce overcrowding across the uk rail network by linking london, birmingham, manchester and leeds with a high speed network. an independent review recommended that the scheme should proceed, despite warnings about costs overruns, concerns about delays and its environmental impact. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge reports. from euston in central london to west london, through counties like warwickshire and up to birmingham, work to prepare the ground for the first stretch

of a high—speed railway has been going on for years. here in solihull, they're diverting a road over the m42 to make way for the railway. the amount of work going on here, building a new bridge, diverting a road over a motorway, gives you a sense of why it has always been hard to imagine that the government might scrap this project, particularly the first stretch of it, running from here in the west midlands down to london. gordon brown was in charge when the project was conceived a decade ago. the time for high—speed rail has come. 0ther prime ministers have given it their backing. today, borisjohnson will, too. he'll back the whole project — a y—shaped railway. the latter phase linking birmingham to manchester and leeds will be reviewed to try and cut costs. but it will go ahead.

hs2 is needed, say supporters, because our railways are overcrowded. but the high—speed vision, this is what they hope birmingham station will look like, comes with a high price tag, which has risen and risen. 0riginally, it was expected that hs2 would cost £36 billion. that figure then rose to £56 billion. but last summer, hs2 ltd admitted up to £88 billion was needed. it's just an estimate, some believe the project could cost up to £106 billion. as the budget has gone up, so did support for those saying the whole thing should be scrapped. but work on the first stretch of the railway is so well advanced that ultimately the government decided its best option was to keep digging. tom burridge, bbc news in the west midlands. 0ur correspondent phil

mackie is at the site of the planned hs2 terminus in birmingham curzon street. that morning. this is the remnants of the old curzon street station built in the 19th century, and subsequently closed, built over, now being cleared out ready for the brand—new station. in the distance that rather grand georgian —looking building was the old station, and it will be incorporated in the rather shiny new version, and when that first train rolls in in 2029, another nine years, this is that the people will have of the city. i have richard butler from the cbi and the west midlands, a really important day for the west midlands, east midlands and the of england. why do you think hst was necessary? —— and the north of england. we have not had the formal newsletter, so on the assumption it will be positive it is

positive for a number of reasons. we need additional rail capacity, we need additional rail capacity, we need to regenerate the midlands and the north and speed up travel times to london. high—speed to has the capability of addressing those. —— high speed 2. many sceptics would argue that the money is too much and would be better spent elsewhere, may be just would be better spent elsewhere, may bejust and would be better spent elsewhere, may be just and working across the existing network. i noted those arguments but i think it is missing the point that we have a victorian rail system creaking at the seams, more and more people want to travel, we need to do something about capacity and it is almost impossible to upgrade the current network without closing it down indefinitely to achieve that. high speed 2 is the only way of bringing in the extra capacity that we need. ideal with lots of rail freight companies with lots of rail freight companies with lots of rail freight companies with lots of pressure to get freight off road and onto the rails, which is

environmentally negative, high speed 2 has many positives that we need to put forward more strongly than we have. the skyline behind us has changed a lot over the last decades, we counted nine cranes behind us here, i think lots of those jobs, thousands of them, probably tens of millions of pounds of investment, has come into the city in the past five years largely because of high speed 2, will there be more now the announcement has been made? speed 2, will there be more now the announcement has been madam speed 2, will there be more now the announcement has been made? it is notjust announcement has been made? it is not just about birmingham, announcement has been made? it is notjust about birmingham, high speed 2 will go to nottingham, sheffield, leeds, manchester, further down the line in terms of timing buta further down the line in terms of timing but a large number of companies have come to birmingham on the back of what high speed 2 will do, and assuming we have a positive decision today, i think more companies will make the same move out of london and the south—east for a variety of reasons. we expect the initial announcement later. we will look to see what potential caveats might be thrown in between expect a

full green light as far as the west midlands and beyond. there may be questions about what happens next, although they promise it will go ahead. it might cost over £50 billion, if you are in sceptic it may be £100 billion, but in the west midlands and beyond many people are saying it is necessary and a vital boost to the economy. thank you. we can speak now to nigel harris, the editor of rail magazine. he joins us from stamford. good morning. you have followed every twist and turn others for more than a decade, is it the right decision your opinion? absolutely, it has been mired in politics and emotion, that if you strip them away it is the right decision, we desperately need that capacity. as your previous guest said, our ra i lwa ys your previous guest said, our railways are full and she would need to close the main lines every

weekend for 25 years to do an upgrade on the existing network, you would not get the same capacity increase that hs2 gives us. are the people who say the money should be spent on reopening lines elsewhere, upgrading other lines, none of that would be possible without hs2? upgrading other lines, none of that would be possible without h527m upgrading other lines, none of that would be possible without hs2? it is not possible anyway, these projects are funded through borrowing, so the idea that there is £100 billion we could dip into for something else is a fanciful net. if hs2 has been scrapped, the borrowing would not ta ke scrapped, the borrowing would not take place. it is a argument and i'm sure politicians know better and judges mischievous in peddling it. you have described that figure of £100 billion plus, 106 billion, the figure talked about, is ludicrous. why is that given that the

initial estimates keep increasing, it could ultimately cost more than £100 billion. got 36 billion was the initial cost, it went to the mid 40s and mid 50s because of treasury contingencies and the way the treasury insists on putting these contingencies in. we have a mad contracting policy whereby the government is asking those building this railway to take the 30 year liability of eight, which has added about a third to the cost. and what was said in the report is that if we do not do something on the faces to manchester and leeds, many could reach 106 billion p, but if the government was to drop that mad contracting policy, it has added £30 billion to the project as a whole, billions of pounds of extra cost would fall away. so financial liability should be taken in—house by the government rather than handing responsibility the

contractors? 0f handing responsibility the contractors? of course, the government is responsible for big infrastructure. look what happened with hospitals when we build them on that basis under cost £400 to change abled, government needs to take the risk itself. it has form on this, try to pass pension risks to the train operators in gdp risks, it can't happen, it needs to contract it sensibly. the civil engineering industry needs to get more efficient, and the way to look at a sensible cost is to look at what high—speed one cost to build, which openedin high—speed one cost to build, which opened in 2007, that's it's perfectly happily cheek byjowl with its neighbours and does not cause any problems, people love it. if you look at the cost of high—speed one and add civil engineering inflation, thatis and add civil engineering inflation, that is how you get to 88 billion. should we try to get that down? yes. but the idea could get to 106 billion is a ridiculous fantasy. you

think the government can avoid that if the changes procurement processes , if the changes procurement processes, which might be what that additional review is about? we do not have much detail yet, but before i let you go, talk to me about the environmental impact, the source of some of the biggest objections to this project? winning perspective. hs2 will take about 0.01% of our ancient woodlands, that is 110,000th. that is 58 hectares of land over the whole rail network. if you look at the lower thames motorway crossing that is coming, over 14 miles takes almost as much, the designers of hs2 have worked very ha rd to the designers of hs2 have worked very hard to shave bits of ancient woodland here and there and have come up with an optimal route. there are 11,000 acres of ancient woodland

in the chilterns and high speed 2 ta kes in the chilterns and high speed 2 takes one hectare. very good to get your thoughts, nigel harris, takes one hectare. very good to get yourthoughts, nigel harris, editor of rail magazine. thank you. as well as giving the go—ahead to hs2, the prime minister is also due to announce money to improve other transport services. boris johnson is set to pledge £5 billion over the next five years to improve bus and cycling services in england. the prime minister is expected to promise passengers outside london a more frequent service with simpler fares. there will be new priority routes and thousands of "zero—emission" buses. 0n cycling, mrjohnson is due to promise to create 250 miles of new cycle paths and to make cycling safer in towns by expanding projects dubbed "mini holland" schemes. but labour has called the plans "unambitious" and says the funding is nowhere near enough to make the difference that transport users, the economy or environment need. chancellor sajid javid spoke about the announcement on bbc breakfast this morning.

today i'm pleased to announce a new £5 billion of fresh funding for buses and cycling in every region in the country outside of london. this is going to be transformative when it comes to the local transport links, it will mean more buses, for example, higher frequency of services, more turn up and go services as some people get in london, it will mean simpler and more affordable fares. in terms of cycle lanes, 250 miles of new, dedicated cycle lanes. i think these kinds of local transport investments are essential too. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is at westminster. good morning. a transport heavy day for the government, what is the thinking behind all these announcements, rail, bus and cycling, today? to be clear, these are not coincidental announcements. the reason the £5 billion over five yea rs the reason the £5 billion over five years for buses has been announced as partly because of the

political pressure that borisjohnson has been under by many mps on his own side, some newly elected, taking seats from labourfor some newly elected, taking seats from labour for the first time in living memory, the mp for bishop auckland was questioning why her constituents should pay for hs2 when it will not go anywhere near her constituency even when complete. some long—standing conservative mps from the north of england such as philip davies in shipley, not that far away from leeds, has said it is a catastrophic waste of money. former cabinet minister david lidington called it a white elephant. against that scepticism was essential for borisjohnson to try to get the message across that it is not either slash all, it is not either local investment or a gigantic train line going up from london to the north of england, you can have both.

0bviously london to the north of england, you can have both. obviously you are discussing the potential costs of hs2, discussing the potential costs of hsz, that discussing the potential costs of hs2, that could be more than 100 billion, a lot more than is being put into buses over the next five yea rs, put into buses over the next five years, a substantial investment. and the chancellor sajid javid said, although he would give no timescale, the rail at great between leeds and manchester would definitely go ahead as part of an infrastructure revolution. i think the wider political picture is that basically the damage to britain's brand, if you like, post brexit, by cancelling immediately what would be the biggest construction project in europe, would be more damaging than going ahead despite the political difficulties that gives boris johnson. labour and the lib dems say he is not being ambitious enough, on buses alone he is not doing enough to restore all the routes that have been cut in recent years. thank you iain watson at westminster. we will be speaking to the co—leader

of the green party, jonathan ba rtley, be speaking to the co—leader of the green party, jonathan bartley, about the announcements, before 9:30am. the headlines on bbc news... police investigating the murder of the journalist lyra mckee in londonderry arrest four men. the entire hs2 rail line will be given the go—ahead by the government — an announcement is expected at lunchtime. a transport overhaul — the government is pledging £5 billion to buses and cycle links across england. and in sport... manchester united have applied for permission to install rail seating for up to 1500 fans at old trafford. the club proposes to replace some existing seats in the north—east corner of the stadium. the legendary brazilian footballer pele is unable to walk unaided and now reluctant to leave his house, according to his son. pele is 79 and has suffered ill health in recent years. the row between head coach gregor townsend and star fly—half finn russell continues. russell hasn't played any part in scotland's six nations campaign after "breaching team protocol" during a drinking session at the

team hotel. i'll be back with more on those stories after half past. i will see you in about 20 minutes. the authorities in china say the coronavirus epidemic has now killed more than 1,000 people. 0n the highest day of mortality so far, hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, registered 100 and three deaths. -- 103 —— 103 tests. an advance team of medical experts from the world health organization has arrived in china to try to answer the many unresolved questions about the epidemic. the world health organization is also holding an international conference in geneva to try to accelerate the development of drugs and vaccines to help fight the virus. gareth barlow reports. bussed from their homes and into quarantine, hong kong on high alert after confirming more cases of the coronavirus.

one day after the chinese president xijinping made a rare public appearance amid the oubreak, beijing confirmed more than 1000 have now died from the virus and more than 42,000 people are known to have been infected. a key component of the authorities‘ efforts to contain the virus is 14 days quarantine. for people subject to 14 days quarantine, i understand sometimes it is difficult to stay at home for a full two weeks. but they are doing a service for this fight against the virus by staying at home. around the world, 25 countries have reported cases of the coronavirus. in the uk, emergency laws have been introduced to allow forcible detention to keep people in quarantine. today, the world health organization is convening a two—day meeting in geneva to accelerate the development of drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. but despite the clamour

to contain the coronavirus, the who says it is important to put the outbreak into perspective. we have to strike the right level of alert because it is important the world knows that there is a new disease but at the same time we have to balance this. the show must go on. people must get up and go to work. our economy and our civilisation, our society cannot be paralysed this. a team from the who has arrived in china to work with authorities to gain a greater understanding of the virus and how it affects people. the hope will be with the number of new infections having decreased on monday, alongside a concerted effort to the public and professionals that there is the potential to gain control over this deadly disease. here, health officials are trying to trace the patients of two gps who are among the eight people in the uk to be diagnosed with coronavirus.

the surgery in brighton where one of them worked had to be shut down yesterday for cleaning. meanwhile, public health england is contacting passengers who were on board an easyjet flight from geneva to london gatwick on 28th january after a person on the flight has since been diagnosed the virus. let's get more on our top story — the government is expected to give the go—ahead for the entire high speed two rail line to be built. it is expected that they will later confirm that the rail project linking london to birmingham and then on to manchester and leeds get final approval. lets speak to jonathan bartley — he is the co—leader of the green party and is in our westminster studio. good morning, thank you forjoining us. 0bviously good morning, thank you forjoining us. obviously the party has consistently opposed this project, so, unlike some, you must be disappointed today? yes, we're huge fa ns disappointed today? yes, we're huge fans of trains, you could not get a more tween —— train enthusiastic party than the green party but we

think this is the wrong party, it was dropped out of the sky into thousand nine, saying it would cost £7 billion, that has ballooned out of proportion. —— in 2009. we know lots of woodlands will be destroyed. the deputy chair of the review which is about to report on which the prime minister will base his decision has said it is likely to lead to increased airport expansion at manchester and birmingham. this is not the way to move to a low carbon economy. the £100 billion that should be borrowed to invest in a complete upgrade of all of the uk's transport infrastructure, including electrifying rail lines, putting a new freight lines, reviewing and expanding existing capacity around the country... at the green party, clearly, you are fa ns the green party, clearly, you are fans of trains in general and you wa nt fans of trains in general and you want people on public transport, so why in your opinion doesn't hs2 fulfil the criteria? many

industry experts say hs2 is crucial to allow the capacity onto other lines and for the development and upgrade of other local services, it is not either slash all, they argue hs2 is fundamental to increasing rail capacity in the uk and getting more people off the roads and 20 public transport. there are lots of engineers and train enthusiast saying this, but the deputy chair of the review says there are alternatives. nobody is saying we do not need to increase capacity, but the question is how, and there is not an overarching transport strategy for the uk, this is something someone dream job, the last labour government james up. politicians like things that look shiny and new but this is a 20th—century solution to 21st—ce ntu ry 20th—century solution to 21st—century problems. in the face of the climate emergency, the shift we need to make, hs2 is not about commuters, it is about

big business, getting money from the north to come more into london as hs2's own review now shows, so this full sun every measure, the environment, economy and transport network. lets talk about the environmental impact, i think you said 100 ancient woodlands would be affected? the woodland trust say that over 100 ancient woodlands would be damaged or destroyed. we all agree this is a bad idea. other measures have that at 0.01% of ancient woodland. 0bviously losing any ancient woodland is not desirable but some might argue that the environmental lobby has this out of proportion and other projects are having as big an impact on the environment, yet we do not hear nearly so much about those. some might argue it, the rspb, the woodland trust, greenpeace, friends of the earth, that almost every environmental group has this wrong

and they should listen to a train enthusiast to says they understand the environment better. i beg to differ. destroying ancient woodland destroys precious biodiversity which impacts on all of the ancient woodland, so you cannot say 0.01% or whatever, that is a fundamental misunderstanding of the widespread destruction it would do, as well as concreting over large areas of the countryside, which we desperately need for carbon capture. good to get your thoughts on this, jonathan ba rtley, your thoughts on this, jonathan bartley, co—leader of the green party. the home office has said that a planned deportation flight to jamaica has left the uk, despite a last minute challenge. the flight was originally scheduled to leave last night but was delayed after the detainees were unable to get access to legal advice. last night protesters took to whitehall to call on the government to stop the action. it was claimed that problems with mobile phone signal prevented those set to be flown to kingston from speaking to their lawyers. the home office says it makes "no apology for trying to protect

the public from serious, violent and persistent foreign national offenders." well, joining us now is isabella sankey — director of the campaign group detention action. thank you forjoining us, isabella. we are hearing that 17 people have been supported on that flight, are you able to confirm that figure? —— deported on that flight. young no, and i'm afraid the home office is not known for its transparency on these issues. we have heard a similar ballpark. they were meant to be at least 50 people on this flight. the intervention by the court of appeal and our challenge has been very effective, we think we have prevented the deportation of 30 01’ have prevented the deportation of 30 or 40 people. what has happened to those people who were meant to be on the flight but have not been sent on it, do we know where they are? they

will have been taken back to detention centres, we think they will have been taken back to harmondsworth and colnbrook, where they were to begin with. those are they were to begin with. those are the centres that have had massive and well—documented mobile phone problems, so our argument is that these people have not accessed lawyers. the government appealed it u nsuccessfully, lawyers. the government appealed it unsuccessfully, that is why these people have not left. we are scrambling to try to verify where everybody is and try to make sure that people who should not have been on that flight were not on it, but we are very concerned people might have been put on that fighter did not have access to lawyers, because they were brought in to detention at they were brought in to detention at the very last minute and because mobile phone signal between the poor at the gatwick centres, so we will try to establish more of the facts. we took some very concerning witness statement last night, including somebody with very clear when jewish links that we think may have

been removed, so we will follow that up and be stories not over —— somebody with very clear windrush links. there is a very clear difference between a persistent offender and somebody with links to windrush. the government says it is trying to protect against persistent offenders. i have clients that have got very minor convictions that have been victims of serious offences, like grooming and sexual assault, they were meant to be on the flight but we got off the flight. not consistent offenders by any stretch of imagination, many people groomed drugs etc. the picture is quite nuanced, you have your position, the government position, but the picture is nuanced. i

think that is the point, it is. agent think you can govern in slogans. you need to look at each individual case and understand stories —— i don't think you can governing slogans. when people have been in the uk from such a young age, people who have been here for decades, frankly even if they have committed more serious offences, if they have been raised in our system, they are our problem. i think the government responses incredibly knee jerk, i think the government responses incredibly kneejerk, not i think the government responses incredibly knee jerk, not being prepared to engage with detail and people are seeing it for what it is, grandstanding authoritarian properties populism but not really behaving as government shed. properties populism but not really behaving as government shedlj properties populism but not really behaving as government shed. i guess the government would argue that it is in protecting people from offenders, but that is the point i'm trying to get out, you say every case needs to be looked at individually. i assume you do not say... you are not saying nobody on the flight should

have been supported? if someone arrives in the country and commit serious offences with no ties here and that is what they do, of course deportation should be a discretionary option after a person has been convicted. the key principle point is, in these cases where people had been here for a long time and, to all intents and purposes are british, by deporting individuals like that, you are doubly punishing ban. for many of these individuals, deportation is a much harsher sentence than the time they have already said for a criminal offence. imagine being forever banished from the country we re forever banished from the country were brought up in, unable to visit your close family and friends. it is a traumatic punishment and that is what the government is not recognising are not being honest about. this is a double punishment and it should only be used in the most exceptional circumstances,

rather than being the norm. the people who did not end up on that flight, what are the chances they will end up ultimately being deported? there will end up ultimately being deported ? there is will end up ultimately being deported? there is a bit of a now because of technical issues with the mobile phone signal. what is being done from your perspective to try and keep them in the uk and in other cases to be dealt with solely in the uk? this day we had got from the court of appeal is crucial to anyone you can get somebody access to a lawyer can you discover whether they had a meritorious case to stay in the uk. i believe a good number of those individuals do, from the evidence i have seen. people who had been here since they were in nappies, people with very many young children and had committed one of the senses and otherwise have worked and rehabilitated and i have a contribution to make. i am hopeful that as long as we can get these people now in contact with lawyers, we will see good outcomes for them

and their families and their children. the key point is that people need legal access and the current system does not deliver it properly. thank you for your this morning. news on the economy, then later gdp gross domestic product figures arejust in. later gdp gross domestic product figures are just in. the later gdp gross domestic product figures arejust in. the uk economy remained flat in the fourth quarter of 2019. those are the latest figures from the office for national statistics. no growth, the uk economy remained flat in the fourth quarter of 2019 for the gdp figures, according to the office for national statistics. in a moment, the weather but first here's joanna gosling to tell us what's coming up on the victoria derbyshire programme at ten. good morning. have you frozen your eggs,

sperm or embryos in the hope of starting a family later in life? the ten—year limit on stowing them could be scrapped in a government consultation which starts today. the health minister in charge of the review will be with us. also on the programme... what is it like to come out when you are a teenager in dublin? one of our team shares his very personal experience. i was 12 when i used to come here and i feel like the only thing i should have been worrying about is getting my homework done but, in my head, i was making a master plan to stop myself from being gay. join us at ten o'clock on bbc two, the bbc news channel and online. just before the weather, breaking news on the coronavirus story. we're hearing that a second gp surgery branch in brighton has been shut, following the outbreak of coronavirus in the area. we are told that the county oak medical centre closed because of an operational health and safety reason following reports a member of staff is one of

those affected. this morning and it has emerged a second branch of the surgery can at the same surgery but a different branch located two miles away remains —— has been closed. and it says it has been closed due to organisational health and safety reasons, there same side that appeared on the branch you are already aware of being closed. a second gp surgery branch in brighton shut following the outbreak of coronavirus but linked to the first one involved. that news coming into us. let's take a look at the weather forecast now. carol has the details. good morning. today we had a strong wind. snow will be blowing in the wind. snow will be blowing in the wind in scotland, northern england and northern ireland. in

the south, we are likely to see some snow, we could see some betting temporarily down to lower levels. in the south messy sunshine and showers by the show as being of brain with some hail, thunder and lightning. this evening are dead and lightning. this evening are dead and lightning. this evening are dead and lightning. this evening a day like to see further wintry showers coming our way, still driven in on strong winds. the frost in the south. the wind will not be as strong in the south. tomorrow a transient ridge of high pressure is building a process. a quieter day weather wise. it will still be wintry. by the end of the afternoon in the cloud will build in the south—western corner of the uk would showers before the rain arrives later on. whichever way you look at it, tomorrow is also going to feel cold. hello. this is bbc news.

the headlines... the entire hs2 rail line will be given the go—ahead by the government — an announcement is expected at lunchtime. supporters of the network say it'll cut overcrowding and help rebalance the economy. a transport overhaul — the government is pledging £5 billion to buses and cycle links across england but labour says it's not enough to reverse years of under—investments and cuts. police investigating the murder of the journalist lyra mckee in londonderry arrest four men. the arrests have been made under the terrorism act. the new ira admitted responsibilty for the killing in april last year. as the coronavirus death toll hits 1,000, the world health organisation will begin a two—day meeting to speed up research. in the uk, the total number of people diagnosed with the virus is now eight. let's back to our main stiory that despite concerns about delays, spiralling costs and the environmental impact, the government will give the go ahead today for the whole of the hs2 high speed rail project. the scheme will link london,

birmingham, manchester and leeds. boris johnson will also announce £5 billion over the next five years to improve bus and cycling services in england. the funding will go to regions outside of london. joining me now is jane gratton — she's the head of people policy for the british chambers of commerce. what is your reaction to this, after all the years of indecision, of a lack of clarity, it seems that clarity is being given today? business communities across the midlands, then north and other parts of the country will breathe a huge sigh of relief after this announcement. it really matters to businesses and business communities. it will increase capacity and take freight and vehicles off the road and it will also improve connectivity for local areas. all round, this is brilliant news. we heard the co—leader of the green party say a few minutes

ago and actually this was going to deliver for london and not for other parts of the uk, not for other parts of england. do you disagree with that? it is really important that we deliver the whole network. 0nce it is really important that we deliver the whole network. once the whole network is in place, with local connectivity, will see huge transformational benefits and i think the whole country will benefit, particularly the midlands and the north. how can a incoming to this opinion, have you weighed up and taken into account the concerns, the concerns, the environmental concerns, and the cost concerns, of course? there can be no blank cheque with these projects. we know there is going to be an investigation of that. in terms of the environmental side, we will be removing vehicles from the road on lorries. people who travel between cities and around cities with a package of announcements that had been made today. by removing

vehicles from the road through hs2 and other local projects, we will be helping to regress , projects, we will be helping to regress, “— projects, we will be helping to regress, —— address congestion and it will be a good benefit. are you hopeful there will be another review for the latter stages of hs2? we had talked already about the way the government would kill is this project and how costs could possibly be saved if the government takes all the financial liability risks in—house. do you think it is worth doing a review? it could bring the potential costs down so it does not hit the £1 billion plus mark. potential costs down so it does not hit the £1 billion plus markm potential costs down so it does not hit the £1 billion plus mark. it is right to look at costs. in terms of delivering the project, the quicker we do and the first ability transformational benefits to towns, cities and peoples lives up and down the country, if the review leads

to better integration and faster delivery, that would be a really good outcome. you'd think faster delivery trumps the bill going above 1 billion potentially. -- you think. it is about balancing act. when the full network is in place, you start to see the economy boosted by the transport infrastructure investment. good to talk to you. jane gratton, from the british chambers of commerce. those in favour of high speed rail say it will boost capacity and cutjourney times but opposition campaigners argue the money could be better spent on improving regional train services. tim muffet has more. it's completely wrecked our lives. completely. the hs2 route runs through ron and anne's living room. i'm finding it difficult that someone can just walk into your life and destroy it. my family have lived in this home for 100 years. i was born here. if hs2 gets the go—ahead, ron

and anne's home will be demolished. they have been told they will need to leave next month. can't even go there. it's awful! absolutely awful. ron and anne say the money they have been offered for the house by hs2 isn't enough. they say they will refuse to leave. we feel like a fruit being squeezed out of its skin, you know? it's closing in, closing in. it'sjust horrible, horrible feeling. ron and anne live in the colne valley on the border. —— buckinghamshire border. among the flora and fauna... singing. folk songs and fury. it will be devastating. just such a dreadful waste of money. 2,800 trees will be felled in this area. so you're going to go into these trees and stop work being done? yeah. is that your plan?

yeah, it's desecrating the natural environment. this is land that belongs to nature. hopefully, it will make politicians realise these woodlands need to be protected. many businesses such as acme whistles in birmingham will breathe a sigh of relief. it should be easy—going to birmingham, but it isn't. if you even go off—peak you stand. those affected won't like it. but the overall benefits to the economy will be great and i think the environmental impact will be far smaller than anybody imagined. hs2 has a lot of support from businesses, notjust bosses, but employees like eileen.

the next generation and generation after will enjoy it. we don't like to make changes, because change isn't always good, but when you do it, it does pay off. after ten years of uncertainty, a final decision on hs2 is imminent. for those who just want clarity, there is light at the end of the tunnel. tim muffett, bbc news. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. another huge story that's got people talking online is of course coronavirus, and a growing level of panic. there are thousands of discussions on twitter, and also across china's social networking sites weibo and wechat. manya koetse, who documents trends in china, tweeted pictures of a person wearing what appears to be a giant plastic bag over their head and entire body. she says, "the photos making their rounds on wechat in times of #coronavirus panicjust keep on getting more surreal." while in new york, abc journalist lucy yang posted "dinner time in chinatown

and the restaurants are near empty! what's going on? there are no confirmed cases of #coronavirus in nyc, butjust the fear of it is sending customers into a panic. merchants in lower manhattan, brooklyn and flushing are suffering." storm ciara here in the uk has caused havoc across the country. we've been reporting on the traffic disruptions and damage it's caused. 0nline, many people are sharing their experiences and pictures. a lovely snowy scene this morning with the caption "wasn't expecting that! a quick snow shower at derby, following on the heels of storm ciara." while rail commuter pheobe's picture of an empty train has racked up almost 5,000 responses. she wrote "i'm stuck on a tlr rail uk train that's stopped because a trampoline has hit it". that's actuallyjust one of several rogue trampolines we've been hearing about. and of course the news that four

hikers had to be rescued from the uk's highest peak during ciara has had a very big response online. a lot of the views very simialr to carol monaghan's. she wrote... "clowns of the century award to the group who decide to climb ben nevis in storm ciara. they had no winter kit — no ice axes, no crampons and as far as we are aware no maps. three of the guys were in trainers." and somthing a little lighhter now. if you're wondering why the hashtag broom challenge is trending. so are a lot of people. somewhere in the tik—tok or twittersphere, a rumour was started that nasa said the earth's gravitational pull is currently perfect for standing brooms upright. as far as we know nasa have not said this but it hasn't stopped tens of thousands of people spenidng a lot of time trying to balance their brooms in kitchens and living rooms around the worlds. jay posted this impressive snap of not one, but several brooms all standing upright by themselves in a hardware shop, with

the caption, "can't decide which one to take," while giselle took the challenge to the next leve with this post. #broomchallenge — got the broom, a knife and a crutch standing." but probably the most useful broom challenge tweet comes from meteorolgist brad panovich who wrote "1— your broom will do this any day of the year. it has to do with the shape of the bottom, not the earth. 2— the tilt of the earth is always 23.5 degrees, it never changes during the year. the orbit of the earth around the sun causes seasons. and social media makes us do silly stuff." the deportation flight to jamaica has been delayed. looking at the most watched, number one as circus

performer and the body bending tricks. another near miss for people in storm ciara. they were nearly swept away by a wave when they got far too close to the coastline. if i can very quickly show you a few seconds of that as we are packing a lot of breaking news into this ally. you can see the people there. if you have a look yourself in a get way too close to the edge. this is at prestatyn sailing club and nearly get swe pt prestatyn sailing club and nearly get swept away by a wave. they were very lucky indeed. there they are. that is it for today's morning briefing. sport now. and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sally nugent. it's been announced this morning that manchester united have applied for permission to install rail seating for up to 1,500 fans at old trafford. the club, who are major supporters of safe standing, made the request to their local

safety advisory group at the end of last year. jon darch from the safe standing campaign groupjoins me now. jon, what's your initial reaction to this? it is very good news, very good news. for the most famous club in the world to apply to install row seating has to be a sign of great progress. what would yo say to those who still have concerns about this style of seating? there are not many these days. anyone who has seen a row seat will understand standing behind the seat with an integrated waist high rail isa with an integrated waist high rail is a lot safer than what some fans do now, standing behind seats that only come halfway up their shins. rail seats have a positive impact on spectator safety. what united wants to do is increase the safety of fans who are already standing in some areas of their stadium. what would you like to see happen next?|j areas of their stadium. what would you like to see happen next? i would love to see united go ahead with the

trial and more and more clubs doing it. the sport minister has said not only can clubs install row dating back can formally operate the areas as safe standing areas. this is something you are campaigning for. clu bs something you are campaigning for. clubs like wolves and spares are allowed to put in these seats but they are not allowed to operate the area is as formal standing areas. —— spurs. it is a bit of a sherrard at the moment. i have been told by experts these seats make spectator said that i will allow clubs to operate these areas as formal standing areas. a great image on the back

page of the telegraph. the guardian has a feature on the rise of the darts player fallon sherrock and how she is motivated by the haters. and the times carries the news about lewis hamilton's mercedes future, along with another picture from the women's six nations snow storm. judd trump is through to the second round of the welsh 0pen. the world champion avoided an upset against the man known as the ‘giant killer', james cahill, to win by four frames to one in cardiff. mark williams and ding junhui are also through. and you can watch live coverage of the tournament this week on bbc two wales. you can also follow it on the iplayer and red button along with the bbc sport website. and finally, after a busy christmas period, premier league players are enjoying a winter break but have a look at this on the arsenal team coach. david luiz wasn't a fan of players getting some rest as he went round pranking his team mates! as you can see, everybody was quite

calm about it, i had to say. if somebody did that to me, i would not be happy. can you imagine getting woken up by someone pinching your nose? iam woken up by someone pinching your nose? i am surprised he didn't get more of a reaction. here we go. incredibly calm. i think they might see a slightly better reaction here. ready? look. he nearly gets his phone knocked out of his hand. that is all the sport from me for now. to keepin is all the sport from me for now. to keep in touch with us throughout the day. thank you. let's get more on the news that the uk economic growth remained flat in the last three months of the financial year. gross domestic product for the fourth quarter was the same as the period before. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity is here. why? how concerned should we be about all of that? we know for

example that in the last quarter of the year we had a lack of business confidence, a lack of investment as we awaited the political outcome to the political crisis over the brexit negotiations. there were two quarters last year where the economy did not grow at all. in the second economy shrank in the third quarter it was flat. for the whole of 2019, 1.4% growth in the economy, slightly faster than the previous year but still very weak compared with prior years. the bank of england has said it thinks the capacity of the economy to grow is only 1.1% compared with more than percent pre—crisis. in that picture, you have services, which is most of the economy growing by .1%. within services you have estate agents doing 0k, retailers doing quite poorly. then you look at the production side of the economy but thatis production side of the economy but

that is clearly shrinking quite sharply. production output fell by .8% in the last quarter of the year and manufacturing has now been shrinking its output for nine months. that is quite a serious situation. it is a serious situation. it is a serious situation. tilly think, because brexit has happened but that will bring stability and increase confidence in some quarters? do we think? in november the economy was shrinking back in december it grew by more than most economists expected. if that continues, we are infor expected. if that continues, we are in for something of a bounce. the british artist david hockney‘s famous painting "the splash" is to go on auction this evening. the 1966 painting is the second in a series of three "splashes" and it is thought that it could go for between £20—30 million pounds — more than six times the price

when it was auctioned in 2006 — £2.9 million. i'm joined now from central london by louisa buck — she's the contemporary art correspondent for the art newspaper. why potentially are such a big increase? the art market has exploded over the last few years. it is an iconic painting. it sums up everything about hockley, about california. it is a 20th century icon. tell us a bit more about the context for the painting. it was painted in 1966, the year hockney decided he was going to relocate to los angeles. he graduated from the royal college and it was everything beyond his wildest dreams, sun, sex, swimming pools. a rather rainy measurable england. he was a young 93v measurable england. he was a young gay man and homosexuality were still illegal in the uk. it was like near bouna to him.

he decided in 1966 to relocate. —— nirvana. it was a glorious image of the splash of the water as the body dives in. it was making a bit of a joke aboutjackson pollock and expressionists, splashing a out to make expressionist gestures. they're ticking over a week to paint.|j think the other two versions of this painting, one is in an art gallery, one is in a private collection. there are a great many wealthy people out there who might want to learn this icon. i hope very much if the wealthy person does buy it, they will donate it or lend it to a museum or gallery because it is something that really needs to be out there as part of our cultural currency because it is an important

painting, one of hockney‘s classics. thank you very much. thank you. we will wait to see whether it does reach the potential £20 million to £30 million price tag. let's look at the weather forecast. plenty of wintry showers around today. a met office weather warning for snow in scotland. the warning is valid right through the evening rush hour. it could have a knock—on effect for the central belt of scotland. blizzard —like conditions perhaps over some of the higher roots this morning. more accumulation expected over the highlands and pennines and higher ground in northern ireland. the snow showers continue to pile in on the cold north westerly wind. some of

the shower is falling as rain. a bit further south we will see a mostly dry day for many central southern areas of england and across east anglia there will be some sunshine here. strong gusty windsjust anglia there will be some sunshine here. strong gusty winds just about everywhere. towards 70 miles an hour in the north of scotland. temperatures towards eight celsius. watch out for their snow in the rush hour this evening in the southern uplands and the central belt. the wintry showers will continue this evening and overnight. lots of clear skies overnight by the south stop watch out for some icy stretches as we head into wednesday. showers will continue across north—west scotland. there will also be showers creeping into south west england. for much of the country it will be a dry day with slightly lighter winds. not so

chilly tomorrow. there will be sunny spells around as well. the rain will come into south western areas of england late in the day on wednesday, as the rain sweeps eastwards, it could get snow on the northern flank. to keep an eye on the forecast was a pretty and settled again on thursday. —— the forecast and pretty unsettled again on thursday.

hello, it's tuesday, it's ten o'clock, i'mjoanna gosling, and we're live from new broadcasting house. the ten year limit on freezing eggs, sperm and embryos could be scrapped. a government consultation starts today after a campaign that we've followed closely on this programme. this woman told us about her dilemma as she reached the deadline for her eggs to be destroyed, at the same time as she met a new partner. so, my situation is that... do i go ahead and use his sperm to fertilise these eggs? who knows what will happen, we might split up, i don't know. if we split up and i have embryos with him, he has every right to get them destroyed, so i lose them.

and then if not, do i use a sperm donor and we stay together and he then resents me? i don't know. we'll be joined by the health minister, who has launched a consultation on the time limit today. the whole of the hs2 rail project will go ahead, the pm is set to announce today, despite concerns about the cost and the environmental impact. are you for it or against it? let me know. a flight deporting a group of jamaican—born offenders, has taken off this morning, despite attempts to stop it. this programme understands about half of those due to be on the plane have not been put on it. what's it like to come out at school in the republic of ireland? 0ur reporter simon 0'leary has been home to dublin to reflect on his own very personal story. to hear you so openly and comfortably talk about your experience in school and ifelt i could relate to it in a way and i was like, "this is so weird." from, like, hearing you... like, i'd always think about, like,

seeing you so confident